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A 36-year-old bystander died Tuesday after he was struck by a bullet during a police operation that also killed a knife-wielding suspect.

Maintenance worker Patrick Limoges was steps away from work when he was shot in the head near Saint-Catherine St., Montreal's main commercial strip.

Provincial police took over the investigation after city police shot the two men around 6:40 a.m. local time.

Officers had responded to a call about a confused man who was ransacking the neighbourhood while clutching a knife.

A witness tells QMI Agency the suspect had been ripping up garbage bags and throwing trash onto the street when police arrived. A foot chase ensued, the witness said.

"The suspect made a gesture like he was going at the police with the knife," he said. "At least three, possibly four, shots were fired. The man fell."

The witness said it quickly became clear that a second man had also been shot.

"I followed (police) on a bicycle. A man was lying on the ground and police were trying to give him first aid.

"He was not involved in this incident. It was possibly a stray bullet."

Mario Hamel, a homeless man who was well known in the neighbourhood, died on the scene. Limoges was transported to hospital where he died later in the day.

Colleagues say Limoges had worked at Saint-Luc Hospital for several years.

"Patrick took care of business, always on time, didn't make waves," a colleague told QMI Agency outside the hospital.

"When his bosses saw that he hadn't come to work and that he hadn't called, they went to see the officers (on scene) to see if it was him who'd been shot," the worker continued. "But no one provided information."

The four city police officers involved in the shooting were treated for shock.

Provincial police arrived on scene about an hour after the shooting and met with city police investigators.

They were tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the bystander's death.

A massive mobile forensics lab was on the scene for much of the day.

Under Quebec regulations, an outside police force must investigate whenever citizens are injured or killed during police operations.